Disturbing figures have revealed that children as young as six have been arrested in Hinckley for causing actual bodily harm.

The shocking news has shown that 1,053 young people have been arrested in the borough in the last two years - for crimes including rape, death by dangerous driving and grievous bodily harm with intent.

All those arrested were 16 or under, with 205 of them below 13.

According to police data, exclusively obtained by The Hinckley Times under the Freedom of Information Act, two six-year-olds in Barwell and Hinckley were among those arrested.

But the children could not be charged as they were under 10 and not deemed criminally responsible.

The number is believed to be the tip of the iceberg as police forces are not required to log offences committed by those under the age of criminal responsibility.

Sgt Jonny Starbuck, of Hinckley police, said young people do commit serious offences. But he stressed officers were dealing with some allegations by making children apologise.

He said: "On the face of it, it may seem like an over-reaction to arrest a child as young as 10 or 11 and, in the vast majority of cases, allegations against children of this age are dealt with without an arrest being made.

"Despite this, sometimes young people do commit serious offences and the only proper way to deal with them is by effecting an arrest.

"On other occasions, we may effect an arrest after negotiation with the child's parents.

"Often, parents will be supportive. Spending a couple of hours in the police station can make a young person face up to their criminal behaviour and prevent reoffending.

"Every case is treated on its own merits and, in some cases when a child is arrested, they don't even go into a cell but rather just go straight into an interview room before being released.

"Under these circumstances, the child would never even be out of his parent's company. Recently, a whole new way of dealing with low-level criminal behaviour has been introduced, in the form of restorative justice.

"This has been well publicised and is based on the principle of an offender 'putting right' what they did wrong, most importantly, to the satisfaction of the victim.

"Hinckley police are leading the way both locally and nationally in terms of this new approach to dealing with crime.

"The process may offer further opportunities still to divert young people away from formal criminal action such as arrest and prosecution."